Story Time
by BlueGreenEyes16
Summary: "Kaa-san, how did you and Tou-san fall in love?" 26-year-old Tenten tells her 5-year-old daughter and 4-year old son how her and their father met and fell in love. "Well, kids, believe it or not, but your Kaa-san and Tou-san weren't the best of friends. Actually, I thought your Tou-san was the biggest jerk."
1. First Days

**A/N: I know that in the Naruto-Verse there's no High School after the academy, but let's just say in my story there is after the Chunnin Exams. **

_Thoughts _

"talking"

-~ -~ page break~-~-

26 year old Tenten smiled slightly to herself as she watched her young daughter and son eat their dinner. _They look like angels. This won't last long. _She chuckled slightly.

Her daughter looked at her expectantly, "What's so funny, Kaa-san?"

Tenten smiled and shook her head slowly, "Nothing."

One year after Tenten and Neji got married when they were 20, on her twenty-first birthday, she received news from Sakura that she was indeed one month pregnant with her, now 5-year-old daughter, Kimiko. A short year later, her baby boy, Akihiko, was born. Kimiko was born as an exact replica as her mother, apart from father's Byakugan and her dark brown locks. Akihiko also had his father's Byakugan, but his hair was as chocolaty brown as his mother's. Both acted like their mother, but could be as quiet as their father. As stoic as Neji is he loves his wife and kids to death. He really is soft around them, especially his little princess.

After dinner, Kimiko looked up at her mother with slight tears in her eyes.

"Kaa-san, I miss Tou-san," she whispered.

"I do too, Kaa-san!" Akihiko chirped in. Neji was currently deployed on a long term mission. He wasn't set to come hope for another month. Tenten missed him desperately.

"I do too, Kimi-chan." She said.

A bright smile appeared on Kimiko's face as she whispered into her brother's ear. Akihiko smiled. "Hey Kaa-san..."

"Yes, Hiko-chan?"

"Say, Kaa-san, how did you and Tou-san fall in love?"

Tenten smiled. She motioned for them to sit down. "Well, kids, believe it or not, but your Kaa-san and Tou-san weren't the best of friends. Actually, I thought your Tou-san was the biggest jerk," she chucked slightly.

-~ -~ page break~-~-

Tenten was nervous. It was her first day of her last year at Konoha High. To be honest, she didn't have many friends her age, but in the same grade, since Gai Sensei held them back one year for the Chunnin Exams. Apart from Rock Lee, her best friends were all one year younger. She was especially close to Hyuuga Hinata, the cousin of the jerk that she hated. Hyuuga Neji was, in her opinion, the biggest, most arrogant jerk in all of Konoha High. He knew he was good-looking, and he always used that against her. He didn't use his good-looks on girls, in fact he hated the girls that fawned all over him. But, he loved to tease her and bother her to no end. She hated that. She hated him, well, not really. She couldn't—they were teammates.

Tenten walked into her first class, only to find that the last seat left was next to her least favorite Hyuuga. She groaned inwardly. He smirked at her expression. As she took a seat, the bell rang. She waved slightly towards Hinata, Sakura, and Ino who were lucky enough to sit behind her. The teacher, Anko Sensei, clasped her hands together and said, "Welcome to Konoha History 101. Slowly look at the person next to you, because they will be your permanent project partners." Tenten groaned and Neji smirked once more. _This is going to be one long year. _


	2. After School

_Thoughts _

"talking"

-~ -~ page break~-~-

Tenten sighed. She wanted a stress-free, annoyance-free, and more importantly, Neji-free learning enviroment. But, Kami just wasn't cooperating with her. She sighed again.

"You'll run out of breath if you keep sighing," Neji said, smirking.

She glared at hm. "Yeah, yeah, Hyuuga. Being your partner for the rest of the year makes me want to keep sighing to run out of breath."

He smirked once more. "I can't wait to see you everyday for the rest of the week, because we have introductions project due next Monday. We have to either write about your clans, or the current Hokage."

Tenten groaned. "Alright. Let's get this over with. I'll meet you at my locker after school. Then we'll head to your house."

"No, we have to go to your house today because my clan is having a meeting today."

"Apartment."

"What?"

"I have an apartment, not a house." He nodded. They stayed quiet for the rest of class. At the end of class, Tenten met up with her friends to figure out which classes she had with them. She had next period, Math, with Sakura, and Third period Accuracy, with Hinata. Her Fourth period was homeroom with all three of them. Then lunch.

Second period passed without a hitch. When Tenten walked into her Accuracy class, she smiled and sat next to Hinata.

"Hi Hina-chan!"

"H-Hi T-T-Tenten-chan." As they continued their conversation, Neji walked in with his fan girls right at his side. He ignored them, and as usual, a scowl plastered upon his handsome face. He marched next to Sasuke and sat down. They nodded curtly to each other, as if acknowledging each other's presence. When Neji's eyes landed upon Tenten and Hinata laughing and giggling with each other, he smirked.

"Hn, what at your smirking at Hyuuga?" The legendary last Uchiha questioned.

"Hn, nothing." He replied.

"Really, because it looks like you are smirking at Tenten...what, do you have a thing for her or something?"

Neji could have laughed if he wasn't as stoic as he was. So, instead, he snorted. "No, it's just fun to irritate her because she gets so worked up."

"Hm, she acts like she hates you."

"Hn, she doesn't though."

"Really...? Maybe you can get her to fall for you."

"Hn, maybe."

"Hn, never mind, she wouldn't fall for you. She couldn't."

"She could. And I can prove it."

"I GIVE YOU ONE MONTH TO PROVE IT!" shouted a voice from behind the two prodigies. They turned around to face none other than our favorite loudmouthed, knuckle-head ninja.

"Naruto, why were you listening? Never mind, what do I get if I win?"

"Well, Neji, I'll leave you alone for a month."

"Hn, deal." Neji said smirking.

-~ -~ page break~-~-

As Tenten waited patiently at her locker for her least favorite Hyuuga, Ino, Sakura, and Hinata walked toward her. They began conversing about how much cuter Kiba, Sasuke and Naruto, respectively, got over the summer. Tenten was zoned out of their conversation.

"Tenten! We asked you a question." Ino said.

"Yeah, Tens. What's up?" Sakura asked.

Tenten sighed, "I'm waiting for Neji, he's taking forever."

The three exchanged knowing smiles. "Neji, huh?" Ino said, smile on her glowing face.

"Yeah, we have a project." Tenten said distractedly, still searching through the large throngs of people. Finally, she glanced at them, and was aware of their smiles. "What up with those smiles?"

"Oh, nothing." Sakura said in a sing-song voice.

"No, tell me!" Tenten insisted.

"Anou, you and Neji-nii-san are always flirting." Hinata sad quietly.

"Flirting...? No! He's always teasing me, and smirking at me. I hate that smirk!" Tenten denied. After a small silence, a "hn" was heard behind Tenten, and she turned around only to realize the close proximity between her and the Hyuuga prodigy. He was a mere centimeters away from her. She flushed and backed up. "Hyuuga, let's go. My house is 4 blocks from here."

"Hn, okay." He replied. As they walked out of the school, he tried to think of things to say to end the silence. Finally he came up with a puny, "Tell me about yourself."

She looked at him confusedly, but answered nonetheless. "Well, I'm your age, and on your team. Um, I hate the color pink, unlike most girls. My favorite color is actually light lavender. I hate wearing skirts and dresses unless I need to. And my favorite thing to do is polish my many weapons. What about you?"

"Hn."

"Okay then," she said, obviously unsatisfied with his answer. After another silence, she said "Here's my apartment." She climbed up the the fourth floor with him trailing behind her. She unlocked the door and let him in. "Make yourself at home."

He looked around at her small apartment. He noticed it was too small to fit a family of at least 3. There was only one bedroom, and there was not much furniture. Finally, he asked, "Do your parent's live with you?"

She looked down, and whispered, "No, never met them. I don't even know if they were ninja."

"Oh. I was an orphan too." She nodded, still staring at the floor. After a short silence, he noticed that she was whimpering a bit. He noticed that her hands would go up to her eyes every once in a while.

Tenten didn't know why she was crying in front of the guy who would tease her relentlessly if he caught her crying. She always cried when she talked about her parents. She never met them, not because they died, but because they didn't want her—she didn't even know if they were alive. _You idiot, he won't ever let you live this down. _She quickly looked up to see that he was slowly walking closer to her, as if he was seeing if she was really there or not. He stood a couple inches away from her and used his thumbs to wipe away her tears. _Perfect, _he thought, _I'll win this bet in two weeks. _"Hey, why are you crying? They loved you. They still do. They're watching and protecting you from above. That's how I see it, when I think of my parents." He whispered.

"No, you don't get it! I wasn't orphaned because they died... I was orphaned because they didn't want me! I don't even have a last name!" she yelled, and began sobbing again. He looked taken back at her outburst. She sniffled and began furiously wiping her tears. "I'm sorry. Let's just forget this happened. Let's focus on our project."

"No," he said, firmly, "They love you. That's why they did what they did. They wanted you to have a better life that what they could have offered. Don't ever think for a second that they didn't want you."

She smiled slightly, "Thanks Neji. Now, let's do our project." He nodded. They dropped the subject, and Tenten couldn't help but have a new found admiration and respect for Neji.


	3. Encouraging Words

_Thoughts _

"talking"

-~ -~ page break~-~-

Neji had no idea as to why he was being so genuine to a girl who he just loved... to irritate, that is. He wanted her to stop crying. He hated when she cried, but he had no idea why. He shrugged it off, _probably just starting to feel a bit sick._They worked in silence for a while until Tenten finally decided to break the silence.

"Anou, Neji, can you, um, not tell anyone about my parents and me crying? Please?"

Neji smirked, and Tenten's eye twitched slightly. "Why, you don't want people to know that the strong, athletic, independant Tenten has a soft side?" he teased.

"Sure. Let's go with that." Tenten grumbled. And the silence returned. They stayed quiet for the rest of the time, only speaking to each other when needed. They had decided to do their project on the beautiful Godaime Hokage herself, rather than their indivual clans. At around 6, Tenten's stomach grumbled. "Hyuuga, you can stay for dinner if you would like some burnt food or instant ramen."

He frowned, "No thanks. I think I'll just head home now." He stood up and walked out the front door. "Thanks for letting me come over." Tenten nodded slightly as she started to prepare her dinner.

-~ -~ page break~-~-

Neji walked quietly and slowly towards the Hyuuga mansions. He thought about what had happened earlier that day. They started out arguing and she ended up telling him a secret about her family that probably only her best friends know. _But why did I tell her mine? Only some people know of me being orphaned, why did I tell her? _He shrugged to himself, _I probably felt like I had to make it even. _As he reached the Hyuuga household, he noticed that it was louder than usual around the mansion, especially on a meeting day. Suddenly a blur of blonde hair rushed past him, shouting, "Arigato Hinata-chan!" Neji knew that voice anywhere. He marched to his little cousin's room.

"Hinata-sama, why was that baka in our home?" he asked.

"Neji-nii-san, N-naruto-kun w-was ju-just over f-for the pro-project." She stuttered.

"I thought today was meetings day... that's why I went over to Tenten's hous—Apartment—today."

"Ah, y-y-yes, nii-san it was. B-but the m-m-meeting ended a b-bit earlier than planned." She responded quickly.

"Ah, I see. So, Naruto is your partner? What have you decided to do?" He questioned.

She smiled sadly, "Well, N-naruto-kun is a-actually an orphan and he d-d-doesn't know much about his c-clan except for his s-surname, s-so, we d-d-decided to do it on the G-godaime."

"I see. Tenten and I have decided that as well," he cleared his throat, "Hinata-sama, it is dinnertime."

"A-arigato, Neji-nii." She said quietly. He nodded, and they walked down to dinner in a comfortable silence.

-~ -~ page break~-~-

The bright sunlight peeking through her curtains had awoken the beautiful Tenten from her sleep. She groaned, but got up nonetheless. As she got dressed, she noticed a small bird at her windowsill. It was a messenger bird. She walked towards the small bird, unrolled the message, and smiled to herself. _Perfect, just what I need—a sleepover at the Hyuuga mansion. At least I won't spend this weekend alone, I'll be with my second family. _She walked quietly to school until she bumped into a certain brunette-dog boy.

"Oh, I'm so sorry! Let me get those books for you!" she said kindly, not even looking at the boy.

He chuckled, "Tenten, it's fine! It's me, Kiba! I'll get them, and your books."

Tenten looked up sheepishly, and stood up, "Oh, well, sorry Kiba. And, thanks." She blushed in embarassment, staring at the ground.

He chuckled again, "It's fine. I'll just hold these books for you—they're quite heavy. Where's your locker?"

Her head shot up, and she flushed again, "Anou, you don't have to—I can do it myself. I don't want you to be late for class."

He smiled, "Don't worry about it. Remember? We have the same homeroom with Kakashi sensei! Now, where is your locker?"

She returned his smile as she pointed towards the second floor. "It's on the second floor, near Gai-sensei's room."

He smiled once again, "Don't worry about it! Lead the way, madam!"

She giggled slightly and led him to her locker. They made some small talk on the way and she couldn't stop giggling at his sense of humor. "Here it is, thanks so much for helping me."

"Not a problem. Now, do you want me to walk you to class?"

She smiled, and was about to accept before a masculine voice interrupted her. "No thanks, Inuzuka."

"Oh, hey Neji!" Kiba said kindly, "But I was kind of asking Tenten if..." Neji sent him a look that told him he would tell him the whole story later. He nodded in understanding to his friend. "Never mind, Tenten. I forgot to tell Hinata something. See you in class."

Tenten nodded, and turned to Neji when Kiba was out of an earshot. "Hyuuga," she hissed, "I can make my own decisions. I don't need your help! And, by the way, what gives you the right to decline Kiba's chivalrous offer when I was about to accept?"

He shrugged. "Let's just get to class. And this time, I'll hold your books."

She grumbled, "No thanks."

He huffed, "Just give me your books, I'm trying to be nice!"

She giggled, "You? Did you get hit with a poison kunai or something?"

"Hn."

"Fine..." she said reluctantly has she handed him her books.

They made some small talk about their project and when they were scheduled to train with Gai-sensei. When they got to class, Tenten recieved several glares from Neji's fan girls. She ignored them and thanked Neji. Then she turned around to talk to her friends.

"Ten! How is working with the stoic Neji-kun?" Ino questioned.

"Blah. You're just lucky you got Kiba! He's so sweet." Tenten replied.

Ino giggled, "I know, and cute too! I think he got cuter this year." She sighed, "But Ten, I think Kiba's got a thing for you. I saw you guys this morning; you guys make a cute couple," she smiled sadly.

"No way, Ino! I admit Kiba's cute and sweet, but if he's got eyes for anyone, it's you!" Tenten reassured.

"You think so?"

"OF COURSE!" Sakura and Hinata choroused.

"What are you two yelling at me for?! It's so obvious to everyone but you two that Sasuke and Naruto have a soft spot for you!"

Hinata blushed, and Sakura just laughed. "I doubt it," she sighed, "Why would Sasuke like me? I'm just that annoying ex-fangirl who used to fawn all over him even during missions."

"A-Anou, S-Sakura-chan, don't think l-like that. S-Sasuke-kun sees you as a l-l-lot more now. You are the h-h-head medical ninja at sixteen-y-years-old!"

"Hey, Naruto sees you a lot more than weird now, too. You are a Hyuuga! You are strong, you never give up, and you mastered the twin lions technique at sixteen! And, Ino, look at you. You're daughter of the wonderful Yamanaka Inoichi. You are part of Ino-Shika-Cho, one of the most legendary combinations ever. Don't ever doubt yourselves guys. You're beautiful." Sakura finished.

"Sakura, you should listen to your own advice." Tenten advised. "Oh! Hina-chan, I got your messenger bird! I'd love to come over!" Ino and Sakura nodded in agreement. "Can we come over right after school on Friday?" Hinata nodded. "Yes! Alright, that means we pack all of our things on Thursday night and bring them to school."

"Ahem, sorry class, I got lost while helping this old lady with her many groceries on the other side of Konoha." Kakashi-sensei said while walking into class.

"LIAR!" Naruto screamed, to which Hinata giggled at. He smiled down to her. Suddenly, the bell rung and the girls left the class to head to Anko-sensei's class.

-~ -~ page break~-~-

Meanwhile, while the girls were chatting, Neji, Sasuke, and Naruto sat Kiba down and explained everything to him.

"So, you're just using Tenten to win a bet?" Kiba inquired, shocked that Neji would do such a thing.

"No, I am just trying to get her to like me." He replied, disgusted that Kiba would make it sound so bad.

"Well, I guess." Kiba shrugged. "But it's still wrong to do that!"

Neji shrugged, "See it how you wish."

"I, for one, think we should tell Ino about this!"

Sasuke smirked, "You just want to have an excuse to talk to Ino!"

Kiba flushed, "No, it's the right thing to do... Oh, shut up! Like you don't want an excuse to talk to your beautiful Sakura-chan!"

Now it was Sasuke's turn to blush. Naruto laughed at the two, "Haha, look at you guys! You got it bad for those two!"

Neji scoffed, "Oh, like you don't 'got it bad' for my precious baby cousin!"

Naruto sighed, "What's your point? It's not like you would let me go out with her. I really like her, but you just have to play over-protective brother."

Before Neji could retort, Kakashi-sensei walked in with some terrible excuse as to why he was late.

"LIAR!" Naruto shouted. Neji could see that Hinata had giggled, and Naruto had smiled down at her affectionately. He sighed, _maybe letting Naruto date Hinata-sama could be a good thing. He changed me, maybe he can make her more confident._ He shook his head, as if clearing his thoughts. Then the bell rang and students scrambled to their next class. Neji, Sasuke, and Kiba grabbed Naruto and headed towards Anko-sensei's History class.


	4. Getting to Know You

_Thoughts _

"talking"

-~ -~ page break~-~-

"Alright Maggots! How are the projects coming along?" Anko-sensei boomed. The classes mumbled their share of 'Good's. "Good! Now, why don't you go work with your partners while I go to Kakashi-sempai's room to get some things."

_Yeah, right, _Ino thought, _that just means she's going to go make out with him. _When Anko-sensei was out of an ear-shot, the class let out a breath or relief, and began socializing, rather than working on their projects. Just as Tenten was going to turn around to talk to her friends, Neji began to talk to her.

"Tenten, are you aware that Gai-sensei wants to get along and become closer comrades?" Neji asked.

Tenten sighed, "Yes, but I was hoping you forgot. Alright, let's just get started."

"Alright, then. What is your favorite food?"

"Dango. Yours?"

"Ramen. Why did you want to be a ninja?"

Tenten seemed to hesitate before she answered. "Well, as you know," her voice lowered to a whisper, "my parents—well, I don't know if they were ninja, but I wanted to become a ninja so that I could make a name for myself. As you know, our Godaime was my inspiration. I wanted to become a well known ninja, so that if I died in battle, my kids would know my name, and my legacy. And learn that protecting those important to you is what matters."

Neji looked a bit surprised at her answer. "Wow."

"Yeah, what about you?"

Neji looked at the ground sheepishly. "Well, when I was younger it was because I wanted to prove that a branch member could be just as good, if not better, than those of the main family. But, now, I know that I want to protect my comrades and my village from possible dangers."

Now, it was Tenten's turn to be shocked. She didn't know Neji wanted to protect those important to him. Heck, she didn't even know he could speak more than a sentence at a time! Slightly embarrassed at her reaction to his little speech, she flushed and looked at the floor. "That's honorable, Neji." She cleared her throat. "Well, um, what are you doing this weekend?" Neji hesitated for a second. _Is she asking me out already? MAN, I am good. _

He smirked, "Why?"

She smiled, "Well, I don't want you to be at the Hyuuga household when I'm sleeping over!" she playfully stuck her tongue out at him.

He chuckled, playing it off coolly. "Well, no need to worry. I'll be with the guys in my room!"

She laughed, "Alright, I guess we should finish our project by Friday if we want the weekend to ourselves." He nodded in agreement. The two were actually working on their projects and asking each other questions to get to know each other. They were so immersed in their own conversation, they were unaware of the giggles and whispers between their friends.

"They are so cute," Ino giggled as she whispered to Kiba.

He laughed nervously, "Yeah, adorable."

She turned her head, and looked into his eyes. " Is there something wrong?"

His eyes widened, _she can tell all that just from my voice? She really knows me. _"No! Nothing's wrong, I'm just worried about Neji. He's acting weird. Maybe he likes her?" He lied, looking down at her. Ino looked up into Kiba's eyes. The two finally realized their close proximity. They both flushed, and turned around quickly. "So," he finally said, "about the project..."

She mumbled an incoherent sound and nodded, "let's get started."

Meanwhile, Naruto and Hinata were going through a similar thing. Watching Tenten and Neji, Hinata smiled. "N-naruto-kun, do y-you think that N-neji-nii likes T-tenten-chan?"

Naruto nodded excitedly before saying, "Hinata-chan, you know, you should help them get together! And, Hinata-chan, you may be cute when you stutter, but you have got to work on not stuttering." Naruto's eyes widened. _Oh Kami, I didn't mean to say that aloud! Now she probably thinks I'm weird. _

Hinata blushed, "T-th" she cleared her throat, "Thank you, Naruto-kun."

He smiled, "Your welcome! And, see how much better that sounds?" She nodded before giggling.

Once again, the same thing was happening to Sakura and Sasuke. "Shall we work on the project, Sasuke-kun?"

"Hn."

"Alright, well, what do you think of moving this paragraph over her to make it flow better?"

"Hn."

Sakura's eyebrow twitched. "Okay, what about adding some more description in this paragraph?"

"Hn."

Sakura huffed. "You know what? If you don't want to work with me, you could have just said so. I'll happily switch with Lee and work with Choji!" She whisper-yelled at him.

He looked taken back. He sighed, "I never said I didn't want to work with you, I'd be honored to work with you. But, I just figured since we are teamates and friends, you would understand what I was saying."

She blushed at his first statement, "Well, I can, but I'd prefer if you actually answered me."

He nodded. "Thank you for putting up with me, Sakura," he said, looking deep into her emerald eyes. She blushed again at his stare.

"No problem. So, now, what do you think of this?"

The four groups of our favorite ninja began working diligently on their work, once in a while giggling at a joke the other said.

"Alright, maggots! That's it for today! The bell will ring in 1 minute! Get packed." The 8 ninja began to pack and the bell rang.

"So, Tenten," Ino said as they walked through the halls with Sakura and Hinata, "what's up with you and Neji, being all buddy-buddy?"

Tenten blushed subconsciously. "We were working on the project."

Sakura laughed, "Tens! You're blushing!" Tenten lifted her hands to her cheeks and sure enough they were warm. She laughed nervously.

"It's quite hot in here."

Hinata giggled, "Yes, Tenten-chan, it is quite hot in the autumn."

"Y-yeah, it is." Tenten stammered, and her friends giggled. Tenten raised an eyebrow and got a mischievous glint in her eyes. "What are you guys laughing at? Neji saw you, Hina-chan! And, I saw you, Ino and Sakura!" They froze. Tenten laughed. "Whatever guys, I'll see you at lunch."


End file.
